65 research outputs found
Alex Deffner — Culture, Culture Where Are You Now? The Contribution of Culture in Urban Planning
No full text[No abstract available
Shaping the vision, the identity and the cultural image of European places
No full textEuropean regions and cities have been, especially during the last twenty years, characterized by a plurality of efforts to define their vision, to construct their identity and to shape their images, in order to become more attractive and, consequently, competitive, and also to increase their market share in a globalized economy. Following this option, places have been elaborating and implementing particular competitive policies and strategic plans in order to attract the potential target markets (new investments, tourists, new residents etc). Shaping the vision concerns the identification of the sustainable development objectives that each place sets up in a long-term horizon. Furthermore, the vision is the first step of strategic planning implementation that a place has to follow in order to construct its identity and to produce its image as a ‘final provided good’. This paper investigates the relationship between vision, local identity and image, focusing on culture and tourism. The international bibliography shows several cases, mainly of European places, that support their competitiveness through cultural and tourism development. In addition, the majority of the implemented place marketing policies relate with culture and tourism. The primary aim of the paper is to present the ways with which the cultural image of a place as a ‘final provided good’, could be produced, supported and promoted effectively to the external environment. The secondary aim is to show under what conditions the promotion of this image could induce anticipated profits for a place in a long-term base. The data for this paper are provided by the INTERREG IIIc CultMark project (Cultural Heritage, Local Identity and Place Marketing for Sustainable Development, an project) that has been in operation in five European places during the last year: Nea Ionia/Magnesia/Greece, Paphos/Cyprus, Chester/UK, Rostock-Wismar/Germany and Kainuu/Finland – it has to be noted that the last four places relate directly with water. The main aim of the project is to create a final successful image for each place and for the study area as a whole. The paper presents a structural analysis of the project methodology and uses the available data in order to produce the ‘final provided good’ of each place.
Using Critical Path Analysis (Cpa) in Place Marketing Process: a Methodological Approach in the Case of Rostock, Germany
No full textUrban/ Regional Co-Operation in Greece: Athens, a Capital City under the Shadow of the State
No full textThe main purpose of the paper is to demonstrate the difficulty of urban/ regional co-operation in Greece focusing on the overshadowing of its capital Athens by the state. The main outcome of this process is the responsibility of many organisations and actors for the same issue, thus acting as a living proof of the proverb ‘too many cooks spoil the broth’. The first part of the paper presents the basic characteristics and trends in terms of the population, economy, society, environment, spatial structure, transport and international role of the Athens Metropolitan Area. On the basis of these some of the key problems are discussed, particularly in relation to the role of the metropolitan area at a national level. The second part involves an introduction to the basic policy context, particularly the one that has a major impact on the structure and function of the metropolitan area. Existing policies and programmes are briefly presented with a view to assess their influence on the potential role of the metropolitan area at a national context. There is also reference to selected case studies such as transport planning, water management and risk management (natural disasters e.g. earthquakes). The third part discusses the basic institutional context, i.e. the administrative and organizational arrangements and the way they influence the function and the role of the metropolitan area. The frame and the conditions of urban/ regional co-operation are analysed, a typical example being the problematic relationship between the private and the public sector: the public sector is unable to press the state and vice versa (e.g. the case of demanding permissions for new hotels in the saturated Athens Metropolitan Area because of the 2004 Olympics). The last part analyses the main scenarios for urban/ regional co-operation referring to the indications for innovative elements and to the prospects of various new fields for Greece such as place marketing and leisure planning (tourism, culture, sports). The focus of this paper is not on the documentation but rather on a synthesis of strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the metropolitan area in a national context.
Is City Marketing Opposed to Urban Planning? The Elaboration of a Pilot City Marketing Plan for the Case of Nea Ionia, Magnesia, Greece
No full textThe role of city marketing has been increasingly important in Europe. Today it has become a necessity with regard to the processes of global competition of cities, tourist attraction, urban management, city branding and urban governance. Many European cities support their competitiveness through cultural and tourism development. In addition, the majority of the implemented city marketing policies relate with culture and tourism. City marketing has faced many criticisms, the main one being that it substitutes for urban planning. However, the work done in cultural planning indicates that, in order for cities to be successful, marketing must be inter-connected with planning. There are even international examples of cities that have elaborated marketing plans in order to attract the potential target markets (new investments, tourists, new residents etc). One recent approach argues that marketing can contribute to the sense of place. The data for this paper are provided by the INTERREG IIIc CultMark project (Cultural Heritage, Local Identity and Place Marketing for Sustainable Development) that has been in operation in five European places since 2004: Nea Ionia/ Magnesia/ Greece (lead partner), Chester/ UK, Kainuu/ Finland, Rostock-TLM/ Germany and Pafos/ Cyprus. The CultMark project is applying a place marketing strategy with a cultural approach. This means that it emphasizes the cultural dimension of marketing and the promotion of the cultural resources of each place. The innovative characteristics of this project are reinforced by the use of the two concepts of ‘creativity’, and ‘branding destination’. The main objective of the CultMark project is the development and implementation of innovative place marketing strategies, based on the elements of local identity and the cultural assets of the partner areas in order to contribute to their sustainable economic and social development. As a case study the elaboration of the marketing plan of Nea Ionia/ Magnesia/ Greece is chosen, and the aim of the paper is to show the interconnection of marketing and planning by trying to answer, among others, the following questions: a) does marketing planning constitute strategic planning?, b) how can marketing contribute to sustainability?, c) can cultural heritage be marketed?
City marketing - a significant planning tool for urban development in a globalised economy
No full textIn our days it is a fact that what is projected as the ‘image’ of a city, can be more important than the reality of the city itself, in shaping visitors’, investors’, and even its own inhabitants’ opinion of it. Marketing techniques are often used to help a city’s transformation into a post-industrial centre of tourism, culture and redevelopment. In addition, urban tourism is playing an increasingly important role in deciding economic development strategies by the local governance authorities. In the current framework of the globalised economy, competition for attracting tourists is even greater. On this matter, the role of city marketing is crucial. This paper examines the importance of city marketing in urban governance decisions. It also investigates the relation of city marketing to urban tourism planning, given the relatively new trend for urban tourism quality management, and to sustainability. Finally, the paper looks at the relation of city marketing procedures to city time planning, participatory planning and urban regeneration, concluding with an acknowledgment of the significance of city marketing in urban planning in general.
The Interrelationship of Urban Economic and Cultural Development: the Case of Greek Museums
No full textThe purpose of the paper is the pinpointing of the role and importance of museums in the cultural and economic development of cities. The starting point is a critical analysis of the international, mainly European, experience, which, especially in the last decade, demonstrates the weight of the cultural factor in urban development focusing on the economic dimension. In the course of searching the relationship between cultural and economic development, the museums have constituted, and continue to constitute, a particularly interesting research object. Examples of the various concepts and practices that are related with museums are: the construction of the ‘cultural image’ of cities, the quest for cultural identity, the support and promotion of these elements as ‘goods’ in the external environment of cities, and the combination of tourist resources. The examination of the international experience constitutes the basis of the attempt to respond to three fundamental questions: a) in what ways, and with what means, is museum management connected with the effective promotion and support of the ‘cultural image’ of the cities?, b) in what ways is the effective promotion and support of the ‘cultural image’ connected with the creation of a competitive advantage for the particular city and its sustainable economic development, and c) does the ‘selling of cultural identity’ of the cities constitute an imperative need or a necessary evil that the cities cannot avoid in both cases? In order to respond to the above questions strategically planned methodologies, ways and means are described and analysed: strategic planning, management, empirical research, segmentation of potential markets-targets, configuration of ‘cultural tourist packages’, place marketing. Particular attention is paid to the role of museums in the urban tourism development process, since tourism constitutes one of the strongest productivity factors in many European cities. The main hypotheses that are going to be tested are the enforcement by the tools of planning and management of the conditions of sustainability and competitiveness, and the contribution of their use to the increasing role of museums in the cultural and economic development of cities. The paper concludes with proposals referring to the case of Greece. In order to examine the role and the importance of museums in the economic and historic development of Greek cities, a threefold structure is followed: framework analysis (i.e. examination of the main weaknesses in the internal environment of museums, identification of the image and administration of museums etc.), secondary data analysis (regional distribution of number and visitors of museums) and presentation of the main research methodology (combination of questionnaires, interviews and statistical data) of an empirical research. The main contradiction is that, while historicity and cultural heritage constitute factors that traditionally characterize Greece, the ways and means with which this factors can constitute dynamic levers of economic development refer to a new reality and new conditions of development which, till the present, have not been taken into serious consideration.
Urban Youth Leisure, Time Use Research and Quality of Life: the Comparison of Leisure Preferences of University Students in Athens and Larissa, Greece
No full textThe role of youth leisure in cities is of special interest and university students (as young and generally more active personalities) hold an important place. The available time of students, exempting usual factors that generally influence leisure (age, sex, work, social class, spatio-temporal constraints), is mainly affected by the subject they choose to study (including their obligations) and by their perception of the city where the institution is located. There are few relevant international studies and even fewer Greek studies. The aim of this paper is to compare the leisure preferences of students in the capital of Greece (Athens) and a medium-sized city in central Greece (Larissa), as well as the impacts of leisure in their quality of life. A questionnaire based survey was used for the data collection. A sample of 440 students in both cities (400 of them in Athens and 40 in Larissa) participated in the research. Important inequalities exist in the most popular activities according to the place of study. One major contradiction (which pinpoints to the time-space interrelationship) is that, although there exists a greater plurality of resources in the capital, there also exist more constraints especially as far as transportation time is concerned.
The Cultural Environment Approach of Urban Development: the Case Study of the City of Veria, Greece.
No full textThe culture of any city undoubtedly promotes its development. The formulation and implementation of cultural policies, a key issue for urban economic development, relate to a variety of economic sectors. Cultural elements that can contribute to urban development could be either a direct promotion of its cultural identity, or their residents’ contribution to the achievement of high quality of life, generating competitiveness between similar cities. The research aim is the investigation of the ways that a city’s cultural reserve can be the means of its development. The particular research methodology was a questionnaire survey, addressed to the inhabitants (200) and visitors (50) of Veria, a medium size city in Northern Greece. The research object was Veria’s cultural environment and its impacts to urban regeneration. It is of vital importance to establish whether Veria’s residents are familiar with their local culture, whether they appropriate it and, consequently, whether they are satisfied from the relevant promotional policy. It was requested from them to evaluate the current management policy of their city’s cultural reserve, followed by their observations and proposals. Furthermore, it was examined whether Veria’s culture could be a stimulant for visitors, by demanding a direct evaluation of the applied cultural promotional policy. It is observed that tourism was one of the main visiting criteria, followed by commuting to working, and using the city as a passage point to other neighbouring destinations. Visitors claim that Veria’s cultural environment could be, undoubtedly, the main stimulant for cultural tourist attraction, if promoted in the appropriate manner. The residents’ discontent was also expressed in terms of the city’s inadequate applied cultural reserve management. They believe that Veria’s local culture could contribute not only to urban regeneration, but also to regional development. A formulation of innovative management policies is critically essential, as well as the immediate need of the inclusion of innovative technologies in Veria’s cultural promotion plans.
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